Seperate Ways
by Lily Hanson
Summary: Follows Bath Time - Emily finds something she wished wasn't true.
1. Anywhere But Here

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers: (Super) Samurai. This is purely fan-made.

* * *

The Rangers were finally home at the Shiba House. Though they were happy to be back and out of the cramped hotel room, they hated what going home after a skunk attack meant.

The house had been aired out for a couple of days while the Samurai hid away in a hotel and while nature had done a good job making the house liveable again, it hadn't gotten the smell of skunk out. Four of the seven Rangers were on scrub duty, which meant they needed to scrub down everything with a surface with Jayden's special water to get the smell out, while the three others were on clean up duty. Everything was everywhere and for the house to get back into order, all their stuff needed to be put away.

Emily was part of the cleanup crew and she had been given the bedrooms. Everyone trusted that she wouldn't snoop through their things while she cleaned up, making her the perfect candidate while Antonio and Mia cleaned the rest of the house and the others scrubbed.

She was in Mia and Kevin's bedroom, putting everything as close to where she knew Kevin wanted it to be. He would come in later and put everything exactly where he wanted it, but Emily could still do the best she could. After moving all his things over a couple of inches, she had a good idea of where it all went.

She organized everything on his desk and turned to move to another part of the room when she banged her knee into the side drawers. She groaned, falling into his chair while the drawer slowly slid open. Hugging her knee to her chest and waiting for the pain to pass before getting up again, she reached out to close the drawer. Completely by accident, she saw what was inside. She grabbed what she wanted, slammed the drawer shut and then walked over to Mia's desk. She had never snooped like this before in her life but she couldn't let this go. She open Mia's drawers to gather what she needed and then she slipped out of the house through their windows. Cleaning up all the rooms would take a long time and no one would notice she was gone for a while, giving her at least a couple of hours to herself.

Knowing it wasn't safe to venture too far, she stuck close to the edge of the forest and sat on a tree stump. She looked at the papers in her hands as tears filled her eyes. She skimmed through the papers, taking in as much as she could.

With the exception of Mike, Kevin and Mia had been the first two people who had been friends with Emily. Her whole life she had been bullied and excluded by her classmates, leaving her with only her parents and her sister to lean on. She didn't have anyone back home to go back to, unlike the others who from time to time mentioned missing their friends.

But Kevin and Mia were special. When Serena fell ill, Emily felt like she was losing her sister. Leaving her home and going to the Shiba House, knowing there was a good chance she never saw her sister again tore her up inside. But Mia had taken her in right away and without even knowing what she was doing she had turned into the sister Emily desperately needed at the time. On their very first night together, when they were still complete strangers, Mia let Emily share her bed because she knew Emily was feeling homesick and alone. It was exactly what Serena would have done, and exactly what Emily had needed. And now, with Serena back, Mia was still a sister Emily needed.

Emily also needed Kevin. He was, in every way that matter, her big brother. He was kind and gentle with her, but also teased her and annoyed her. He was protective of her, but when she was bothering him he had no problem pushing her away and letting her get herself into trouble. Trouble he would always help her get out of if she needed him.

She couldn't imagine living without either of them anymore, but it looked like she was going to have to. In her hands she held two folders filled with pictures and descriptions of houses from all over the country. They weren't thinking of staying inside the city limits, or even staying close to the city. They weren't even thinking of maybe staying in the same state. They wanted to leave. In both piles of papers, there were maybe only one or two houses that were even close to Panorama City.

She knew eventually the team would split up. Once they defeated Xandred everyone would want to go home for a little while. She would head back out to the country and spend some time on the farm with her family, and she would also be in the city, visiting Mike's family. Kevin and Mia were going to want to travel back and forth between his family and hers, which was already spread out across the country because of her father. Antonio, surely would want to go home to his father and Jayden would likely go with him. But she always imagine them coming back together and staying close and she hoped they wanted that too.

The more she thought about it, the more she realized it was a crazy thing to hope for. Her grandmother hadn't stuck close to her teammates. Neither had her mother. They met up for lunch maybe once or twice every couple of years, but that was it. And hell, at some point her family had decided to move far away from everyone and the Shiba House and live out in the country, making it even harder to keep in touch.

Lost in her thoughts, Emily didn't notice the time go by until she heard her name being called. The Samurai must have noticed she was gone. Checking the time on her Samuraizer, she realized it was way past dinner time and her not showing up had obviously scared everyone.

She tried to dry her eyes and hide the papers before the voices got too close. She folded the papers and stuffed them in her pockets, concealing them completely, and then wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, hoping it would be enough.

From between the trees, Kevin and Mia popped out. They saw her sitting by herself on a tree stump, safe and sound, and breathed a sigh of relief as they caught her in their arms.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Mia then cried as she pulled away, "Do you have any idea how worried we were? You're not supposed to go off on your own like that!"

"Sorry," Emily whispered and looked down at her shoes. She couldn't make eye contact with them anymore, knowing they wanted to leave.

"You better have a good reason for this, Emily," Kevin growled. He let her go to cross his arms over his chest, showing her he wasn't happy at all, "What if something happened to you? You would think that by now you would have learned your lesson."

"I know, I…"

"Well?" both were obviously very impatient as they wanted for what they hoped was an amazing reason to run off without telling anyone. Emily thought of showing them what she had found, but didn't want them to confirm her suspicions. She just shrugged and sniffed back a few more tears at the thought of Kevin and Mia leaving.

Kevin and Mia heard the sniff and looked to each other. Something was wrong with their little sister. It was the only explanation that would make sense. Emily wouldn't run off unless there was a problem.

Knowing she was the gentler one between herself and Kevin, Mia knelt down beside Emily and put her hand under her chin, lifting her face gently. She saw the tear stains on Emily's cheeks, "What happened, Emy?"

Emily pushed her hand away and got up. She didn't want to talk about it, "Nothing. Sorry I ran off."

As she started to walk back to the house, Kevin grabbed her arm, "Why are you walking funny?"

Emily looked down at her knee. It still hurt from when she smacked it against his desk and it was hard to walk on it. It was nothing to worry about, but for now it made her limp slightly.

"No reason."

"Emily."

"I'm a klutz. I hurt myself all the time. Don't pretend like you care."

"Of course we care, Emily," Mia breathed, "This will stay between us, but you know it's not good to keep things bottled up."

"Is it something between you and Mike?" Kevin asked. Emily shook her head, ripped her arm from Kevin's hand and stomped all the way back to the house. Kevin and Mia followed her and when she was back inside safely they called the others back but warned them to give Emily a little space. Something was obviously bothering her.


	2. The Big Move

After giving her some time to herself, everyone wanted to try and talk to Emily. Since coming home, she had refused to talk to anyone about what was upsetting her and unfortunately, no one had any idea. Trying to comfort an upset Emily without know what was causing her to be so upset seemed to be an impossible task. Everyone, even Mike and Serena, who both always had a way of cheering her up, came back defeated. So the Rangers decided they would try to put the pieces together.

"She was cleaning our rooms, right?" Antonio asked, "That's the last time anyone saw her?"

"You think something happened while she was cleaning?"

Antonio shrugged at Serena's suggestion. It was the only answer he had right now.

"Our room hasn't been touched," Mike said and Kevin started to snicker.

"How can you tell?"

"Emily didn't get to our room which means whatever upset her interrupted her cleaning," Mike then glared at Kevin and stuck his tongue out, "and by the way, my room isn't that bad… anymore."

Serena bit her lip and then looked to Jayden and Antonio, "Is your room clean?" without being too obvious, she tried to eye Jayden in particular. The way this conversation was going, it seemed that it was something about the rooms, or something about cleaning the rooms that had upset Emily. All Serena could think of that would make her sister this upset was Jayden. Though he kept the clues to his secret very hidden, it was always possible that if someone spent a little too much time in his room, they would stumble upon it. In fact, Serena was surprised Antonio still had no idea.

"From top to bottom," Antonio nodded his head, "She's pretty good at it, too. She got everything where it used to be."

Jayden saw the look Serena was giving him and excused himself.

While he was gone, Serena turned her attention to Ji, "She was cleaning out your room too, right?"

"I told her not to bother," Ji said, "I would do so myself once the house was cleaned. I have so many important papers and books, I wouldn't expect any of you to know what to do with them, and I can't afford to lose them."

Serena breathed a sigh of relief. If Emily hadn't been in Ji's room, then the only way she could find out Jayden's secret was by going through his room. If Jayden came back with good news, Serena knew things would be okay; at least on that level.

Jayden came back and nodded his head, "Everything in our room is like it was before. Nothing's missing, nothing is there that shouldn't be there, and drawers and boxes haven't been touched."

Translation for Ji and Serena: _she doesn't know_. Both breathed a sigh of relief while Jayden sat down and tried to calm his pounding heart. He knew the secret would come out eventually, but it didn't need to come out like this.

Mike stroked his chin, "So, if my room wasn't touched, and Jayden and Antonio's room is clean…"

All eyes turned to Kevin and Mia, "She must have been in your room," Antonio leaned forward, "Which means something you own upset her."

Kevin and Mia exchanged looks. The way the Rangers put it, it did make sense, and their room was only partially cleaned, so Emily had been working in there when she ran off. But neither could think of anything they owned that would upset her. They weren't the most open of people, but they didn't hide anything they knew would upset the others.

Antonio got up, "I think it's only fair we go snooping."

"Snooping?" Kevin and Mia both asked and then shook their heads. "How is that fair?"

"So you do have something to hide?" Antonio smirked.

"Emily wouldn't snoop," Kevin frowned, "There's no way she would snoop. How do we even know for sure it's Mia and I who upset her? What if something just happened?"

"In your room?" Antonio looked to them strangely, "Coincidence?"

"Maybe she went to the bathroom or something?" Mia suggested. "Just because she was cleaning our room when she left, that doesn't mean she was in our room when something happened. She could have gone to the bathroom, or the kitchen, or the common room. She's allowed to take breaks."

"I was cleaning the kitchen," Antonio said, "She didn't go there. And you were in the common room, Mia."

"What would upset her in the bathroom, then?" Mia asked. The boys all instantly stuck out their tongues.

"Whatever it is, you girls can handle it," Jayden said.

Serena got up and started to walk around the house. She wanted to check the bathrooms for anything and everything. So far, their only answer was something had happened in there, and she had a bad, very bad feeling.

She came back to the common room a few minutes later with her fist clutched tightly around something, and the other just clutched tightly. She then punched Mike, hard, in the back and then opened her hand.

"What the hell is this?"

Mike gasped for breath, unable to talk from Serena's assault, so Kevin leaned forward and had a look, "A pregnancy test? You got her pregnant!"

"Uh, guys…"

Mike had only just been able to breathe again when he realized what Serena had found. He looked up at her, horrified and then he looked to Mia. He pointed accusingly, "YOURS!"

Mia shook her head, "Nahuh. Not mine."

"Guys…"

Serena held the test up for Mike to look at. It was negative, but if her sister was taking tests that meant there had been a chance. Though Serena knew her sister and Mike were young, engaged, and the feelings were there, she needed them to be safe not just for the sake of the world or for the fortunately non-existent baby, but also for Serena's sanity. One Samurai baby was enough for now.

"Why would she need to take this, Michael?"

"Guys, it's mine," Antonio finally got out, and seemed rather embarrassed about it. Understandably, all eyes turned to him. Jayden's hands were instantly in the air.

"Then it's not mine."

Antonio played with his hands nervously, "I needed a band aid the other day and knew Emily and Mike always have a box in their bathroom. I saw the box of pregnancy tests, _unopened_, and wanted to see what would happen if I peed on it."

Serena breathed out a huge sigh of relief and then realized what she was holding in her hands. She gave the test a look of disgust and then passed it over to Antonio. He took it, unsure of what to do with it.

Mike looked up at Serena smugly, "I think you owe me an apology."

"You never denied the possibility that it could be yours."

Mike frowned, crossed his arms over his chest and then grumbled, "Yeah, well you already have a baby."

"What was that, Michael?"

"Nothing."

Ji massaged his temples. Now that it was confirmed that the test did not belong to Emily, or any of the girls for that matter, he and the Samurai were back to square one for figuring out what had upset her. Knowing that they would never get a sure answer until they got Emily to talk to them, Ji got up and walked to her bedroom. He knocked on the door and slowly opened it. He saw Emily was on her bed, buried under her blankets. Carefully, he sat down beside her and pulled the top part of the blankets down, revealing the back of her head.

"This has gone on long enough, Emily."

"Go away," Emily muttered into the mattress.

Ji put his hand on her back, "This problem will not resolve itself if you refuse to talk. Fortunately for you, there are seven people out there ready and willing to listen and help."

Emily shook her head, "Five people. Two of them don't care at all."

"What do you mean?"

Emily pulled the blankets back over her head, "Nothing. Go away."

"Who are you talking about, Emily? Who do you think doesn't care?"

"I said go away."

Ji reached out, touching the spot on the blankets that covered her head, "In case you think it's me, Emily, I want you to know you are truly mistaken."

"It's not you," Emily muttered, "That doesn't mean I want to talk about it with you. I don't want to talk to anyone about it. Who cares? We're all leaving when this is over anyway."

"Who is leaving, Emily?"

"All of us."

"Where are you going?"

"Everywhere. Anywhere but here."

"You want to leave?"

"No! They do," Emily pushed down the blankets and rolled over slightly so she could look up at Ji. She pulled the papers out from under the blankets to show him, "Mia and Kevin are looking at houses out of state."

Ji took the papers and looked through them. It looked like Emily was right, but he knew not to assume. Her gave her back the papers and sighed, "Mia and Kevin told you this?"

"Why else would they be looking at houses, Mentor? When this is done, they want to get out of here. Away from the Samurai life and away from all of us."

Ji stroked his chin, "Kevin does have big dreams. He may be missing these Olympics, but I doubt he'll ever stop swimming. Competition would take him out of state. It would make sense that they would consider finding a place to live somewhere else."

"There's an ocean right there!" Emily pointed out the window. There was a beach not too far from the Shiba House. "The Pacific Ocean, no less. How much more water does he need?"

Ji nodded, "Well, then I guess it must be for Mia. Her parents live on two different sides of the country. Her mother and grandmother live here, and her father and brother live on the east coast. It would make sense that Mia would want to place herself between them."

"No," Emily shook her head, "That's not a good reason. Her dad moved, but she doesn't have to. She can't."

"She can, and if she wants to, there is nothing stopping her and Kevin from moving away."

Emily let out a cry and buried her face in her pillow. Ji touched her back and slipped the papers out from under her. Without another word he left the room and returned to the common room.


	3. Couldn't Leave

After talking with Emily, Ji went back to the common room. He now had an answer for why she was upset but unfortunately there was nothing he could do about it.

While cleaning Mia and Kevin's room, Ji assumed Emily had stumbled upon the many different papers that listed the homes across the country that were currently for sale. In the back of his mind, Ji always knew the day where the Samurai Rangers moved out of the house would come, and so he wasn't surprised Mia and Kevin were getting a head start on places to live.

However, he could understand how a discovery like this could upset Emily. For her, the Samurai Rangers were her family. Unlike her classmates at home, the Rangers were the first friends who hadn't picked on her and put her down just because she was Emily. They cared for her like she was someone important, and to learn that they were thinking of leaving was a huge shock. Ji was hoping that Mia and Kevin could comfort her on the matter and let her know that even if they were moving away, they would never really be gone. He doubted these Samurai could stay away from each other for too long.

He held up the papers for Mia and Kevin to see, "I understand it's exciting to plan for your future, but at the rate we're going, I highly doubt many of these homes will still be on the market when you two are ready to buy them."

"Buy a house?" Mia asked and shook her head, "Where did you find that?"

"Emily," Kevin sighed. He got up, took the papers from Ji and then looked to Mia, "She must think…"

"Wait, you guys want to move?" Antonio frowned. He looked to the others curiously and then back to Mia and Kevin, "but we need to stay here while we fight Nighlok, right? You can't…"

"We're not moving," Mia shook her head. She took one of the files from Kevin and sighed, "I'd love to live in any of these homes, but there's no way Kevin and I can afford any of these houses, or a house for that matter. Unless Xandred plans on taking a few more years before he's defeated and Kevin and I don't spend a dime in the meantime."

"We might need to tell that to Emily," Kevin said and Mia agreed. They headed to Emily's room and knocked on the door.

"I said go away!"

"Isn't that why you're upset?" Mia opened the door and she and Kevin walked in. Kevin dragged over one of the desk chairs so he was sitting beside the bed and Mia placed herself down beside Emily. The yellow Ranger had once again buried herself under her blankets but this time she had sealed all sides so no one could pull them off her. Mia placed her hand on what she thought was Emily's back. "Squirt, can we talk face to face, please?"

"No. Go away."

"We know you saw the list of houses," Kevin said. "Emily, you've got it all wrong."

"I don't want to hear it," Emily shook her head. "Go away. Go live in Kentucky or New York, or wherever. Go find a lake or a pool or go live with Mia's dad. If you don't want to stay, I don't want you to stay either."

"Emily…" Mia tried pulling on the blankets, but Emily pulled back, refusing to come out. Mia tried pulling from another spot, but Emily had sealed herself in well. Groaning, Mia turned to Kevin and nodded her head. He got up, grabbed the lump of blankets that was Emily and lifted her up. He walked her away from the bed and placed her on the floor. Emily covered herself with the blankets again before Mia could pull them off.

"I don't want to talk!"

"Then listen," Mia pulled on the blankets but Emily was strong. She groaned and looked at Kevin. He just shrugged. There was nothing he could do for a stubborn Emily. Mia grabbed Emily by the arms and look at what she hoped was Emily's eye level, "What you found wasn't a list of houses Kevin and I are thinking of moving into. Nor is it a list of places we're thinking of moving to."

"It's a list of houses that have the things we want for our house when we eventually buy one," Kevin nodded, "Probably years and years from now."

"It's what?"

"The house in Kentucky has a spacious yard," Mia chuckled. "The house is New York is close to everything we need to be close to."

"I'll never understand how you can live miles away from the nearest grocery store," Kevin smirked and shook his head.

Emily lifted the blankets and poked her head out, "So you don't want to leave the state?"

"We're not planning on it," Mia said, "and even if we do, you see this house?" she showed Emily of one of the bigger houses on her list, "I like this one because it's got five bedrooms. That's enough room for a master bedroom, one or two rooms for our kids, and guest rooms for all of you to come and stay the night, or several nights. Even if Kevin and I move to the other side of the world, we're not leaving."

Kevin gestured to the two folders of paper and smiled, "You know, Mia, Em. She wants the perfect husband, the perfect kids, and the perfect house. This is just a list of the things we like, the things we don't like, and the things we need when we go looking for our perfect house."

He looked through his folder until he got to the picture of the house that was near Panorama City. It was a small house, the smallest on in his list of choices, and if Emily was honest, it looked nowhere near perfect. She had no idea what Kevin and Mia could have liked about it.

"This is close to you guys. We don't plan on leaving the state. If we get our way, we won't even leave the city. We'll find out perfect house here, near our families and near you."

"We're not always going to live in the Shiba House," Mia said and brushed a strand of hair behind Emily's ear, "but we're not going to forget about each other once this is done. We've got too much invested in each other. And no matter how busy our lives get, we'll always make time to see each other."

"Promise?"

Mia and Kevin both nodded their heads and hooked pinkies with Emily. Then, Kevin started to nudge Mia.

"Although, you know, if we take her with us, we could move anywhere."

Mia smirked, "Hmm. That is true. I guess we could find a house with enough room in the attic for her."

"An attic?" Emily frowned.

"We'll feed you three meals a day, don't worry," Kevin smirked and pulled Emily into his arms, "Maybe moving is a good idea."

Mia nodded her head, "Stay right here."

As Mia walked out, Emily looked up at Kevin, "You're not really going to keep me in the attic, are you?"

"Oh, right, you're an earth Samurai. Would you prefer the basement?"

Emily giggled, "You can't take me with you."

"Why not. It would save us all some gas. It's not like we want to keep in touch with the others once we leave. Truth be told, they all kind of bug me."

"Got it," Mia came back into the room carrying a big cardboard box. Ji always had some lying around for storage purposes. With so many guests in his home, he needed to make room for them and their things, which meant he had to put a lot of his stuff into boxes. Mia made sure the box was sturdy enough and then looked to Kevin, "If we pack her now, no one else can claim her."

"Wait! No!" Emily giggled as Kevin lifted her up onto his shoulders and walked towards the box. He gently put her inside. Emily continued to laugh, "Guys!"

-Samurai-

While Mia and Kevin were busy packing Emily, the other Samurai were in the common room, waiting for someone to come back and tell them Emily was feeling better.

Finally, in the middle of their game of snakes and ladders, Mia walked into the common room with a smirk.

"We decided we are moving."

"What?" jaws were dropped. Mia chuckled.

"You guys are loud, noisy, and this whole save the world thing is kind of getting old. There's a place in Michigan Kevin and I really liked, so we're going there."

As Mia said this, Kevin walked by behind her, pushing a rather large box. When he saw the others looking at him he gave them a smile. Mike pointed to the box.

"What's in there?"

"The stuff we want to take with us when we move," Kevin chuckled and pat the top of the box. "You can do whatever you want with the stuff left behind. This is all we need."

"I don't want to live in a basement!" the box cried out. Kevin gave it another gentle pat and laughed.

"Don't complain. You're living rent free."

Serena crossed her arms over her chest, "That's my sister in there, isn't it?"

"Yep," Mia nodded.

Serena waved them off, "Have fun! Enjoy the new house!"

"Serena!" Emily cried from inside the box.

Mike got up, "I heard the magic words. Living rent free? Sign me up!"

As he approached the box, Mia grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him away. She gave him a look that told him he wasn't invited, "We don't like you."

"Need any help getting the box into the van?" Jayden chuckled and nudged Antonio to get him up. "We'll help you carry it out to the car. The rest is up to you."

"Sounds great," Kevin nodded and he grabbed one end of the box. Jayden and Antonio lifted the other end, surprised to find it wasn't too heavy.

"GUYS! AH!" Emily cried from inside the box, feeling it moving around, "Stop! Stop!"

"Guys," Serena sighed and shook her head, "C'mon, you should know better."

She walked over to the boys and the box, while at the same time she pulled out her Samuraizer. She traced a symbol and a piece of paper appeared in her hand. She pressed the paper against the box and then smoothed it out. When she moved her hand, the others saw she had put a fragile sticker on.

"There you go. Now you can take her away."

Kevin thanked her for the sticker and then started to walk to the door with Jayden and Antonio. They only made it a few steps though before the bottom of the box gave out and Emily fell right out. She hit the ground with a thud, but wasted no time nursing her sore butt. As the packing peanuts inside the box continued to spill out, she jumped to her feet and raced over to her stool.

"Visits are good enough. With a bedroom on ground level."

"Are you sure?" Mia asked and looked at Kevin with a smile before turning back to Emily, "I can find a sturdier box. We have no problem packing you and letting you live in the attic."

"Or the basement," Kevin offered. "Whichever you prefer."

"Just don't move too far away. And keep in touch!"

"Of course," Mia smiled.

Antonio gestured to the box and the packing peanuts, "So, no one's actually moving right?"

"No, no one's moving for a long time," Kevin assured the gold Ranger and then looked to him curiously, "Why?"

"PEANUT WAR!" Antonio grabbed a handful of peanuts and tossed them at Kevin's face. Mike's and Emily's faces lit up as they joined the war, collecting as many of the packing peanuts as they could to toss them at the others. It was young vs. old, with the young Samurai already taking the advantage by collecting the most peanuts.

Ji groaned loudly as he watched the fight, "We just cleaned the house!" when everyone ignored him he sighed, "Maybe they should all move out."


End file.
